An unkown situation
by Kitsunekit75
Summary: Hank sees Nikki and Monroe out together and only one thought crosses his mind...why isn't Nikki with Jared?


Hank wasn't sure what to think, he had just been walking back to his car when he saw them. Nikki wearing her casual jeans and regular black spaghetti strapped top and her normal brown flat boots, even though the pant legs were un-tucked from them today. Today was Sunday, her day off, and normally she would be with Jared, instead, she wasn't with him, but rather the clock maker, Monroe, his name was. The man was in a plaid green and black button down with jeans and some tennis shoes. He watched as Monroe grabbed Nikki's free hand, she laughed at something he said as they walked, in his direction though they didn't seem to see him just yet. As they got closer Nikki was telling a story that made the other man laugh as she used her free hand to talk, making large exaggerated hand movements as she talked excitedly. Once they got closer a boy on his skateboard rushed past them, forcing Nikki to get rather close to her curly haired companion. His partner…blushed? At the contact as they locked eyes, both their expressions going soft as their faces got closer, but their senses must've came back on when they broke apart, to Hank, they looked like a high school couple getting caught with showing PDA. Sadly, that was also when Nikki caught Hank's eye.

"Hank? What are you doing here?" her voice was pitchy, though she still kept hold of the other man's hand, he looked to Monroe, meeting eyes with him and he could see the disappointment in them, for being interrupted, or for Nikki pulling away at the last minute, he couldn't tell.

"Oh, I was just doing a few quick errands, then I was planning to go home" Nikki nodded, giving him a tight smile,

"Really? Monroe and I were just doing the same thing" she told him, Monroe's grip tightened visibly,

"Well, I should get going then, I don't want to interrupt anything" Hank said quickly, Nikki tried calling out to him but he was just too confused at the moment to really understand what was going on.

The next day Hank walked right up to Nikki as she sat at her desk, the look he gave her made her understand, silently she stood and followed him to an empty hallway, Nikki leaned back on the wall, hands in her pockets as she gave him an even stare. He waited until he knew for sure what and how he was going to start this conversation, he knew that she and Jared had been having some serious relationship problems as of late, but…for her to be…cheating on him like this…and so openly…was just something he didn't know how to open that door.

"I know what it looked like yesterday, and I'm not cheating, Jared and I had broken up nearly two months ago. In fact, he's the one who cheated, not me" Nikki said knowingly, Hank looked up, startled, she always did know how to read him. She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly before a pained and sad expression overcame her,

"Two months ago, I found him and another woman eating together, at first I thought it was a friendly lunch, just a pair of coworkers getting together to kill time or something…until…" she paused, tears welled in her eyes and Hank knew, he knew this was harder for her to relive,

"Until they kissed and they got into his car and they drove off, I figured it was her house they were going to seeing as how he didn't come back until near midnight. We fought, put the blame on me which I think was fair since most of it was true, like how I wasn't opening up to him anymore, I was lying and I didn't love him anymore" as she was saying this, Hank could see it, there was more to the story than she was telling him, but the fact that she was telling him this much made him feel like a real ass for thinking badly of her.

"Then I ended up taking my stuff or what little of it I had and ended up staying with Monroe, he's been really good about the whole situation," as she said his name he could see the love in her eyes and expression, it made him wonder how long they had been together, or if they were still in the 'just friends' stage.

"Anyways, long story short, Jared is an ass and Monroe takes care of me when I…need him…" she hesitated that last few words but he didn't pay attention,

"Well, is that all or can I go back to work now?" she asked suddenly, he nodded and watched as Nikki walked tall and straight, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, it was at that moment he knew what to do next,

"I think I'll have a talk with Monroe later" he muttered, following his 'sister' as he likes to imagine her as, back to work.


End file.
